The unique characteristics of R. palmatus have made it difficult for taxonomists to agree on how it should be classified, resulting in an elaborate taxonomical history and an extensive synonymy.

The type species of genus Rhodotus was originally described as Agaricus palmatus in 1785 by French botanist Jean Bulliard;[2] mycologist Elias Magnus Fries later included it under the same name in his Systema Mycologicum.

[10] A 1986 paper reported that the species Pleurotus pubescens, first described by American mycologist Charles Horton Peck in 1891,[11] was the same as Rhodotus palmatus, making their names synonymous.

[13] The placement of the genus Rhodotus in the order Agaricales is uncertain, and various authors have offered solutions to the taxonomic conundrum.

[14] In 1953, French mycologists Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi placed Rhodotus in the family Tricholomataceae—a traditional "wastebasket taxon"—on the basis of spore color.

[16] By 1986, Singer had revised the placement of Rhodotus in his latest edition of The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, noting that "It has formerly been inserted in the family Amanitaceae but is obviously closer to tribus Pseudohiatuleae of the Tricholomataceae.

Studies of the ribosomal DNA sequences from a wide variety of agaric fungi have corroborated Kühner and Romagnesi's placement of Rhodotus in the Tricholomataceae as then understood.

[21] These results corroborated a previous study which showed Rhodotus to be part of a clade containing species such as Cyptotrama asprata, Marasmius trullisatus, Flammulina velutipes, Xerula furfuracea, Gloiocephala menieri, and Armillaria tabescens.

Between the ridges, the surface color is somewhat variable; depending on the lighting conditions experienced by the mushroom during its development, it may range from salmon-orange to pink to red.

[29] The outer cellular layer of the cap cuticle is made of bladder-shaped, thick-walled hyphae, each individually supported by a small stalk that extends down into a "gelatinized zone".

[17] Chlamydospores are asexual reproductive units made by some fungi that allow them to exist solely as mycelium, a process which helps them survive over periods unsuitable for growth;[36] Rhodotus was shown experimentally to be capable of producing these structures in 1906.

[13] As part of a Spanish research study to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of mushrooms, Rhodotus palmatus was one of 204 species screened against a panel of human clinical pathogens and laboratory control strains.

[33] Described as having a circumboreal distribution,[42] R. palmatus has been reported from Canada,[42][43] Iran,[44] Hungary,[45] Italy,[46] Poland,[47] Slovakia,[48] Denmark, Sweden, Norway,[49] Germany,[50] the area formerly known as the USSR,[17] Korea,[51] Japan,[42] and New Zealand.

Consequently, phenotypic variations observed in the field—such as size, shape, and cap color—may be influenced by differing conditions of light color and intensity.

[28] In the 1980s in Europe, increases in the levels of air pollution, as well as changing land use practices coincided with reports of declines in the populations of certain mushrooms.